Murtagh was named International Player of the Year at the 2018 Cricket Ireland Awards

Tim Murtagh has said Ireland are "up for the fight" ahead of their third one-day international against Afghanistan.

The Middlesex paceman joined the squad in India for the ODI and Test match legs of the tour.

After the Afghans won the opening one-day fixture by five wickets, they were on 250-7 on Saturday when the match was abandoned due to rain.

"It was important we went hard at them," said Murtagh of Saturday's game.

"Obviously, the first match didn't go as we wanted, but I thought we did pretty well with the half game we got in on Saturday.

"It was important that we showed them we were up for the series and up for the fight.

"Having put in a fairly meek performance in the first game, there were some positives to take out of it and now we have got to get ourselves up for Tuesday."

Murtagh did not play in the T20 matches against Afghanistan at the start of the tour

Murtagh, who has made more than 80 Ireland appearances after making his international debut in 2012, had the honour of bowling Ireland's first ball in Test cricket.

The 37-year-old had an impressive 2018 and is hoping to build on that after training hard over the winter.

"It's been good to join up with the lads as it's been a long winter back home, training in the cold," he continued.

"The sessions I've been doing back home have held me in good stead - I'm feeling pretty good form and fitness-wise, so it's been good to get outside and get some overs under my belt."

Murtagh also emphasised the importance of seamers like him adapting to subcontinent conditions.

"It's important you acclimatise pretty quickly and have clear plans, but be prepared to change those plans quickly if things aren't working well," he added.

"Obviously you're not going to get the assistance from the wicket or through the air that you'd get back home, so other skills I've developed over the years come to the fore and you have to rely on those."

After Tuesday's game in Dehradun, Ireland play the final two ODIs of the tour on Friday and Sunday, with the Test match commencing on 15 March.